Evolution was accessible only through the anonymous web-browsing
software Tor. It functioned as a kind of eBay for drugs and
illicit substances: After registering an account for free, users
could browse thousands of user-submitted listings, buy products
with the digital currency bitcoin, and leave ratings and reviews
on vendors' pages.

In addition to drugs, Evolution sold hacking tutorials, stolen
goods, weapons, and an array of other hard-to-find contraband.

The best known of the Deep Web marketplaces was undoubtedly Silk
Road — the libertarian-tinged drugs free-for-all that Ross
Ulbricht was convicted of running earlier this year. After Silk
Road's closure in November 2013, there has been a concerted
clampdown by global authorities on Deep Web drug vendors.

Since then, Evolution grew to become one of the largest illicit
marketplaces on the Deep Web. Whereas the original Silk Road's
administrator Dread Pirate Roberts (Ulbricht, according to
prosecutors) was outspokenly political, the Evolution
administrator Verto is far more reserved, avoiding all
publicity and press requests. Verto is also far more
mercenary in his or her approach to business, previously
operating a "carding" forum that helped facilitate identity
theft. Verto is joined on Evolution by a second administrator,
Kimble.

Drugs intended for sale on
Evolution seized in a German police raid last
week.Polizei
Sachsen

An Evolution volunteer moderator posted on Reddit on Tuesday
night that "the admins
are preparing to exit scam with all the funds" and that "not a
single withdrawal has gone through in almost a week." Upon being
confronted, the administrators "confirmed they are doing it right
now," the person wrote, later adding that "yes, this is real, no
this isn't maintenance."

It's difficult to estimate precisely how much bitcoin Verto and
Kimble have made off with if this is a scam — though it's certain
to be in the range of millions of dollars.
Krebs, the security researcher, suggests it's more than $12
million. The staff member posting on Reddit alone claimed to
have lost $20,000 worth of bitcoin as a result. To give an idea
of scale, there were more than 20,000 separate product listings
on the site.

Community members are furious. One warned that Kimble and Verto
had "24 hours (and that is being generous) to make this right and
re-open the market, and allow people access to their funds. Once
that time passes — my crystal ball starts talking and unless
you've changed identities and moved, you willbeF----D."

"This makes me so angry and I don't even have any BTC in
Evolution," another wrote. "It just makes me sick that some
people are losing thousands of $$$. Pigs."